Inter Milan Transfer Rumors: Samuel Eto'o to Anzhi?

Just when it seemed as if Samuel Eto'o was all packed and set for a move to Manchester City, Anzhi stepped in at the right time and now seems to be front-runners for the Cameroonian striker.

Yes, Anzhi, the same club who surprised the world by putting in a bid to sign Brazilian prodigy Neymar, have shown the world that they really mean business by entering into serious negotiations with Inter Milan and Samuel Eto'o's agent over a possible transfer of the striker to Russia.

Claudio Vigorelli, Samuel Eto'o's agent, had this to say about the situation:

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"We have almost reached an agreement with Anzhi. Now we hope that the clubs agree,"

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Adding to the speculation, Inter president Massimo Moratti added:

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"The offer is not indecent but it is not up to me to evaluate it. In fact it is intelligent, interesting and fair. Now it is up to us and Eto'o to evaluate it."

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From Samuel Eto'o's side, this is clearly a big-money move, and hardly anything more. Anzhi, as exciting a footballing project as they may be, are still slowly developing, and even with Eto'o, they are a long shot to win the title or even make it to the Champions League, with Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow firmly ahead in the league and looking set for second and first place, respectively.

For Anzhi, this move has both positive and negative implications. Obviously, the positive is that the purchase of Eto'o provides the club with one of the most fearsome and prolific strikers in all of Europe. With Eto'o up front, there is a very real possibility that he could single-handedly blast Anzhi to the top of the Russian Premier League, as well as help lead the team to success in the Russian Cup.

Additionally, having Samuel Eto'o at Anzhi would significantly raise the profile of the club, and invite more high-caliber players to join the club, similar to how Robinho opened the door for players to join Manchester City.

The negative implications of the move for Anzhi are that, at the age of 30, there's no telling how much gas Samuel Eto'o still has left in his tank. He's coming off a magnificent season with Inter Milan, but how many of those seasons does he have left? Is it worth it for Anzhi to pay the striker a reported €20 million a season in wages for three to four seasons when the striker may only have one or two good seasons left in him?

Finally, is this move right for Inter Milan? Yes, its become well established by this point that the club is in financial trouble, but will they be able to survive the loss of their best striker? Can Pazzini, Milito, and Pandev be relied upon to pick up the scoring in the absence of Eto'o? If they can't, then Inter could easily find themselves struggling to compete in Serie A or the Champions League.

What do you guys think about the possibility of this move materializing? I look forward to reading your comments and discussing the topic with you below.